Observatory Stargazers Bid Farewell To Hale-bopp

PALATINE — It was a night of a "thousand stars," and the Harper Community College astronomy staff last week gave viewers one last chance to view the comet Hale-Bopp..

Amateur astronomers said farewell to the comet at the college's observatory, where the stars were more crystalline than the fuzzy glob people glimpsed through telescopes and binoculars.

Officially, Hale-Bopp will be visible in the western sky until May 15, said Paul Sipiera, a Harper astronomy professor. The comet has been easily seen since early March, he said.

For the past month, the observatory sighted its antique telescope, made in 1882 by a Rev. John Peate, on the 4.6-billion-year-old comet. During that time, 1,400 people have dropped by on nights when the observatory was open to view the comet, Sipiera said.

On the last night, the observatory would show Hale-Bopp, Steve and Julie Shipton of Palatine brought their children, Claire, 4, and Iaian, 2, to say farewell to the comet.

As the comet moves away from the sun, it shrinks, Sipiera told the family, as they observed the comet through the 12-inch-diameter Newtonian reflector.

"Why is the comet shrinking?" Claire asked her mother.

"It's getting colder," Julie Shipton said. As the comet moves farther from the sun, the heat is less effective, causing the tail to become smaller, Sipiera explained.

Since the comet was discovered, Steve Shipton said his family stands out in the driveway most nights to catch a glimpse of it. "The children use it as a diversionary tactic to prevent them from going to bed," he said.

Now that the comet is moving into deep space, the observatory is turning to other points of interest in the sky. The telescope will be focused on Mars for May.